Setback in O'Hagan murder must not mean case closed

More than 11 years have passed since investigative
journalist Martin
O'Hagan was murdered near his home in Lurgan, Northern Ireland, and the
case has not been solved. Last week Northern Ireland's public prosecutor announced
a major setback to the case that has colleagues worried it never will be.

O'Hagan is one of three journalists murdered with impunity in the
European Union, according to CPJ research, and the only case in the United
Kingdom. The elusiveness of a conviction may signal that it is time for the
government to examine what went wrong in the investigation, if it is to take
a stand against impunity.

At a January 25 press
conference, Northern Ireland's director of public prosecutions, Barra McGrory
stated
that his office would not prosecute eight people investigated for the murder of
O'Hagan. McGrory said the case relied too heavily on testimony of informant and
confessed accomplice Neil Hyde. "In the absence of any corroboration, the
available evidence is insufficient to provide a reasonable prospect of
obtaining a conviction against any individual," he said.

Hyde was jailed in
February 2012 on offenses including drug dealing and arson. His 18-year
sentence was reduced to three years for agreeing to help identify the culprits
in O'Hagan's murder and give evidence about the activities of the outlawed Loyalist
Volunteer Force, a paramilitary group which claimed responsibility for the
murder, according to local news
reports.

A reporter for Sunday
World newspaper known for his coverage of both Catholic and Protestant
paramilitary groups, O'Hagan, 51, was walking home from a pub on September 28, 2001,
when someone shot him dead from a passing car. Colleagues say they believe the
LVF targeted
O'Hagan for exposing narcotics network they controlled, as well as
assassinations and intimidation rackets they orchestrated.

Following acquittals last year of 12 men accused of illegal
activities in connection to another paramilitary loyalist group, the Ulster
Volunteer Force, in a trial also based on uncorroborated testimony from an
accomplice, the prosecutor's decision in the O'Hagan case was not unexpected.
The question is whether it signals the end of the pursuit of justice for O'Hagan.

"Most people--colleagues and family--are devastated. There
is a fatalism in the statement of the [prosecutor] that is depressing," said
Seamus Dooley, Irish Secretary of the U.K. National Union of Journalists, which
released a statement
calling for a " full investigation leading to the conviction of those
responsible" for O'Hagan's murder.

The lack of a conviction in the murder is all the more
frustrating because the vehicle used in the attack was found near the crime
scene and there are witness statements on record. The problem, says Richard
Sullivan, deputy editor of the Sunday
World, goes back to failures in the initial investigation which yielded
little hard evidence. "Forensic evidence is minimal," Sullivan said. "Police
could have done much more. We know who killed Martin."

Among those Hyde fingered for the crime are five men who the
Sunday
World has also reported over the
years as the perpetrators:
Drew King, his brother Robin King, Nigel Leckey, Mark Kennedy and Hyde himself.
All were previously charged with
offenses relating to the murder; all denied the charges against them; and the
charges were eventually dropped against everyone except Hyde, news
reports said. The prosecutor's office originally said it would revive the
case against the other four at the conclusion of Hyde's case, the reports said.

"We are very disappointed, very upset that there appears to
be no likelihood that those who killed Martin O'Hagan will be brought to
justice, but not very surprised," said Sullivan of reaction among the
journalist's colleagues.

The prosecutor's service told CPJ that if fresh evidence comes
up, they will reconsider a prosecution. The investigation is technically still
open, but new forensic evidence is unlikely to come to light after more than a
decade.

Still, NUJ's Dooley urged authorities not to abandon the investigation
just because 11 years have passed. "This is a serious murder and raises serious
concerns," Dooley told CPJ.

[Reporting from Wirral, United Kingdom]

Elisabeth Witchel, a CPJ consultant, served for many years as the organization’s journalist assistance coordinator. She also launched CPJ’s Global Campaign Against Impunity.